Bottle capping machine



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W I ,Z 44 x4 w 5 4 2 Sheets-Sheet l Edgar 5. amer I I \4J -E S DARNERBOTTLE CAPPING MACHINE Filed Oct. l, 1930 Sept. 22, 1931.

Sept. 22, 1931. I E 5. DAR'NER 1,824,660

BOTTLE CAPPING MACHINE Filed oct. 1, 1930 2 sheets-sheer 2 atented Sept.22, 1931 srnras PATENT ortica BOTTLE CAPPING MACHINE y Application ledOctober 1, 1980. Serial No. 435,721.

This .v invention relates to mechanism for capping bottles and isdesigned particularly with a view to its use in ca ping milk bottles.

An object of the invention is 'to l rovide a machine for this purposewhich wi l be simple, speedy and accurate in operation.

Other objects and avantages will become apparent as the descriptionproceeds.

Referring to the accompan ing drawings, which are made a part hereo' andon which similar reference characters indicate similar parts,

Figure 1 is al view in elevation with the parts in elevated position,

Figure 2, a View Vpartly in elevation and partly in section with certainelements in the lowermost position, y

Figure 3, a section on line 3-3 of Figure 1,

Figure 4, a section on line 4--4 of Figure 1, im Figure 5, a verticalsection showing `the bottle cap releasing means in position for raisingthe caps,

Figure 6, a vertical section showing the caps raised to their uppermostposition and gs showing the cap in posltion on the bottle,

Figure 7, a section on line 7-7 of Figure 2, and

Figure 8, a detail of one of the pushers. 1n the drawings numeral 10indicates a g@ milk bottle of conventional shapehaving a l'lared top 11.l2 indicates a ring which its over the top of 'the milk bottle and whichis centered and held in position by means of springs 13. Mounted uponthe ring 12 is a 3s series of spiral rods 14 which carry cams 15 ontheir lower ends which cams have sharp edges as shown at 16 :forseparating the lowermost bottle cap 17 from the stack of caps 13 whichare contained in a cylindrical tube 19. se Spaoed around the top of thering 12 and secured to it'are plates 2O upon which plates are mountedblocks 21 having sloping interior portions 22 for a urpose which willlaterappear. lf desired t e plates 20 and the at blocks 21 may be madeintegral with the ring 12. Mounted upon and closing the space betweenthe ends of plates 2O are plates 23. These plates are notched on theirinner side to receive a spindle on the lower end of the ce spiral 14 anda disk 24 is secured to or made integral with the cam 15. The cam isheld against vertical movement by the plate 23. A block 25 having a ball26iseated in a socket therein provides a ball bearing for t-he cams. Theplate 24 has a cut-out portion at 27 to 55 permit the bottle caps topass down into and e seated in the. mouth of the bottle. A space 28 isprovided between the lower end of the cam and the plate 24 and the plate23 engages in this space on the outer side and on 60 its inner side thespace receives the edge of the bottle cap 17, as shown in Figure 5.

:The tube 19 has a shoulder portion shown at` 30 in which a cardboardorA other tube 29 containing the bottle caps rests. The inner @5diameters of the tube 29 and the tube 19 at 'shoulder portion 30 are thesame, namely,

slightly greater than that of the diameter of the bottle caps.Surrounding the tube 1,9 is an'operating sleeve 31. The tube 19 is pro-79 vided with a number of lugs 32, preferably formed by punching out aportion of the metal of the tube and a coil spring 33 is seated on theselugs, and has its upper end pressing against an inner iiange on theoperating 75 sleeve 31. Within the lower end of the sleeve 31 is fitteda ring34, the ring being preferably secured in the sleeve by means ofscrews 35. The ring 34 has a number of axial bores 36in its rim toreceive the ends of the spiral so screws 14. The sides of the holes 36are cut out to receive lballs 37 which en age in the spirals in thescrews 14 to rotate t ese screws when the sleeve 31 is moved vertically.The spiral groove in the members 14 terminates sa at its lower end in a.straight groove at 38 so that when the ring 34 reaches a certain pointin its downward travel further movement will not rotate the spirals 14but will hold them in the position to which they have been moved. ao

This is the position in which the cut out portion 27 is just beneath thebottle cap so that the cap may drop upon the bottle. Positioned innotches 39 in the linner portion of the ring 34 are a number of pushingplungers 40, a5

the lungers being preferably held in the note ves by means of heads 45which engage the inner face of the ring 34 and shoulder portions 46against which the lower side of the ring 34 rests. The plungers 40 havetheir ico surface at 42 which is engaged by the lower edge of the tube19 to move these plungers outwardly as the sleeve 31 is raised. Aportion of the lower edge of the tube 19 is preferably formed with abeveled edge. as shown l0 at 43 on which edge the cam surface 42 of theplungers rides.

In operation a tube 29 of bottle caps is inserted within the tube 19 andpushed down so that its lower end rests upon the shoulder 30. The ring12 is then positioned on the top of a bottle and the sleeve 31 ispressed down. As this moves downwardly the balls 37 acting in thegrooves in the spirals 14 rotate these together with the cams 15 ontheir lower ends. As the cams rotate the edges 16 engage between thelowermost bottle cap and the one next above it to separate the two, thelowermost cap being held in the notch 28 and resting upon the plate 24.The remainin caps in the tube together with tube are cause to moveupwardly by the upper cam surface of the cam 15. When the cams have beenrotated to the position at which the cut-out portion 27 registers ustbelow the bottle cap the plungers l will strike the sloping edge 22 ofthe members 21, move inwardly, and at this time the balls 37 will havereached the straight groove 38 of the spirals 14. The spirals willtherefore no longer be rotated and downward movement of the sleeve 31will cause the plungers 40 to press the bottle cap down into the neck ofthe bottle as shown in Figure 6. Upon releasing the sleeve 31 the spring33 will raise it to its elevated position and as it moves upwardly theballs 37 will rotate the spiral in the reverse direction to allow thebottle caps and tube 19 to drop down to the point at which they rest onthe plateV 24. A shoulder 47 on the tube 19 also rests onthe shoulder 48on the spirals 14. The above operation may be manually performed and bymeans of this device bottles may be manually capped very rapidly. `Thedevice, of course, is not limited to its use 1n hand operated bottlecapping operations but may be adapted for use with machines by means ofwhich the simple mechanical movements necessary may all be easilycarried out.

It will be obvious tov those skilled in the art that various changes maybe made in my device without departing from the spirit of the inventionand therefore I do not limit myself to what is shown in the drawings anddescribed in the specification, but only as indicated in the appendedclaims,

Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A bottle capping machine comprising a ring adapted to seat upon t-hetop of the bottle,

centerin means for said ring, a tube adapted to hold ottle ca ssupported by said ring, spiral rods carrie by said ring, a sleeveslidably mounted on said rods, cap holding and delivering means carried'by said ring, and means operable to push a cap upon a bottle when thesame has been released by the said delivering means, substantially asset forth.

2. In a bottle capping machine having a tube for receiving bottle caps,means for supporting and selectively releasing bottle caps one by onecomprising rotary cams having edges adapted to move between thelowermost cap and the one next above it to sepa-` rate said cap from thestack of caps, each cam having a surface for raising the remaining capsand tube, and means for pushing the separated lcap into the neck of thebottle, substantially as s'et forth.

3. A bottle capping machine comprising a ringI adapted to seat upon a'bottle, a tube supported by said ring, a sleeve surrounding said tube, aplurality of spiral rods carried by` said ring said rods having camsontheir lower ends with means thereon for separating the lowermost bottlecap from the remainder of a stack of caps, spirals on said rods toelevate the stack of`caps and tube after the outermost cap is separatedtherefrom, and a series of pushers carried by the said sleeve forpressing the separated cap into the neck of the bottle, substantially asset forth. f

4. A bottle capping machine comprising a ring adapted to seat upon abottle, a tube carried by said ring, a sleeve surrounding said tube, aplurality of spi-ral rods carried by said ring said rods having cams ontheir lowerends with means thereon for separating the lowermost bottlecap from the remainder of a stack of caps, spirals on said rods toelevate the stack of caps and tube after the outermost cap is separatedtherefrom, and a series of pushers carried by the 'said sleeve forpressing the separated cap into the neck of the bottle, and ballscarried by said sleeve adapted to set in grooves in thespirals to rotatethem to cause the cam to separate the lowermost bottle cap and toelevate the remainder, substantially as set forth.

5. A milk bottle capper comprising a tube for carrying bottle caps, aplurality of pushers for pressing the cap into the neck of the bottle, arotating plate upon which the caps rest, means for separating a cap fromthe supply of caps in the tube and for lifting the remaining caps andtube, said rotating plate serving to retain the separated cap until forholding a supply of caps, a sleeve mounted upon said tube, said sleevecarrying a plurality of pushers for pressing the cap into the neck ofthe bottle, cap retaining and separating means, -said last named meansserving to lift. the caps and tube 'after one is separated from thesupply of caps, said separating means having means for supporting theCaps in the tube, substantially as set forth.

7. A milk bottle capper comp-rising a tube for holding a supply of caps,a sleeve mounted upon said tube, said sleeve carrying a plurality ofpushers for pressing the cap into the neck of the bottle, cap retainingand separating means, said lastnalned means serving to lift the caps andtube after one is separated from the supply of caps, said` vseparatingmeans having means for supporting the caps in the tube, said tube havinga beveled lower en-d adapted to cooperate with cam surfaces .on thepushers to extend them radially as the sleeve returns to uppermostAlposition, substantially as set forth.

8. bottle capping machine comprising a ring adapted to be positioned onthe neck of abottle, said ring carrying a plurality of rotary bottle capretaining and releasing means, a tube for holding bottle caps supportedby said ring, a sleeve mounted upon said tube, said sleeve having a ringpositioned in its lower end, said ring engaging said bot- Atle capretaining means and having means for rotating them, said bottle capretaining means having means associated therewith for limiting upwardmovement of the said sleeve, substantially as set forth.

9. A bottle capping machine' comprising a ring adapted to be positionedon the neck of a bottle, a tube containing a supply of bottle capssupported by said ring to stand vertically upon the milk bottle, meansfor separating a cap and means for depositing it into the neck of abottle and for pressing it into position, the separating means servingalso to lift the remaining caps andtube to hold them out of the way,substantially as set forth.

In Witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Hagerstown. Maryland,this 30th day of September, A. D. nineteen hundred and thirty.

EDGAR STOUFF ER DARNER.

